“All that we have now is a complaint where the government has cherry picked conversations to put Sen. Smith in the worst possible light,” said Gerald Shargel, an attorney for Smith. “And my growing familiarity with the facts allows me to be optimistic that we will be able to put these conversations in an entirely different light.”

Shargel said his client wants the public to know that he didn’t attempt to bribe anybody and denies any wrongdoing. All six defendants named in the complaint have denied wrongdoing.

According to the complaint unsealed Tuesday, Smith allegedly arranged for cash bribes totaling $40,000 to be paid to two county-level Republican officials as part of an effort to put his name on the party’s citywide primary ballot for mayor. As a registered Democrat, Smith needed a waiver from leaders of three of the city’s five Republican organizations to be eligible.

The complaint cites audio recordings made by a cooperating witness and an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agent. On Wednesday, however, Shargel said those recordings “will make my case.” It’s important, he said, “to understand the context in which all these conversations took place.”

Earlier Wednesday, another of the defendants in the wide-ranging investigation made her first public statements and similarly vowed to fight the charges.

“We will vigorously defend against those charges to restore my good name,” said Noramie Jasmin, mayor of Spring Valley, N.Y., during a brief appearance at the village hall. Jasmin and her deputy mayor, Joseph Desmaret, are accused of accepting financial benefits in exchange for their votes in favor of a sale of land in the Rockland County village.

“I am asking the community not to prejudge me, rather to keep me in your prayers for my good name to restore,” she said, walking away from the lectern without taking any questions from reporters.